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GISS may exchange data with the NSA – Court considers contrary to law unproven

Mar

14

2017

The two services do not stop with the right to exchange information with foreign intelligence services. Several organizations want this to be banned, but they could not demonstrate that foreign services act contrary to Dutch law.

The plaintiffs are concerned about the practices, in particular the US NSA and the British GCHQ . According to the plaintiffs has become clear since the unveiling of Edward Snowden to collect these services on a large scale telecommunications data retention, and desire, for example, Google and Facebook that they cede user data. Because Dutch also use Google and Facebook also the NSA gets in their metadata in Dutch hands. In addition, the plaintiffs argue that the foreign services eavesdropping direct talks between Dutch citizens. All of this would violate rights enshrined in international treaties. It would also be contrary to the standards in accordance with the Law on Intelligence and Security Services 2002 governing Dutch intelligence services.

The Hague Court of Appeal has ruled that there are insufficient concrete evidence that the NSA and British intelligence violating our fundamental rights. The burden of proof to show this was the group of claimants and they are here the judge insufficiently managed. They have enough concrete evidence to show that foreign intelligence services engage in conflict with Dutch legislation activities in the Netherlands.

The judge did not think that conclusion automatically results from the finding that intercept the US and British services on a large scale telecommunications and that the Netherlands has one of the largest global Internet hubs and is home to a large data center Google. The only concrete example which the plaintiffs have pointed out, the finding was that satellite dishes are in Burum. Which supports the judge not claiming that foreign intelligence services themselves develop activities in the Netherlands. Prosecutors have acknowledged that the exact method of the NSA is unknown, so they can not show the judge that the data exchange between Dutch services and the NSA violates the right to privacy of the ECHR . It appears from the judgment that the earlier verdict upheld in 2014 by the court.

The court has been established that it is not allowed the Dutch intelligence services to circumvent the Law on Intelligence and Security 2002 using data resulting from the greater powers and activities of foreign services. Prosecutors have not, moreover argued that the two services actually circumvent this prohibition. The fact that foreign services have more powers, according to court does not mean that the two services should not receive any information from the foreign intelligence services. The court also noted that the Law on the Intelligence and Security 2002 foreign intelligence services can not normalize.

The group consisted plaintiffs include the organization Stichting Privacy First, the Dutch Association of Journalists, the Dutch Association of Criminal Lawyers, a hacker and an advisor for information security.